"What a chimera then is man. What a novelty! What a monster, what a chaos, what a contradiction, what a prodigy. Judge of all things, imbecile worm of the earth; depositary of truth, a sink of uncertainty and error: the pride and refuse of the universe."

Wizards, unchanged for centuries, are now more sensitive to the kind of magic they blissfully avoided for so long - that which builds airplanes and bombs, and abolishes tradition. War has never been so difficult to ignore. London is a city strangled with propellers and guns, and Grindelwald sifts through the ashes of Europe performing his Greater Good.

Hogwarts has long been a sanctuary, but even its ancient walls are not immune. Deep beneath the dungeons stirs a new danger, the likes of which are as old as the castle itself. "All who behold its eyes fall dead upon the spot..."

Oh joy. A group project. Though few voiced them, the body language in the NEWT class gave a collective sigh as Merrythought announced the assignment. Heads turned, eyes made contact, and before the Professor had even set them free to choose a partner, half the class was paired. Those who stood awkwardly, aware that they hadn't been chosen were few and far between, but Corrine rose with purpose anyway. She was used to being a leftover. Usually she was just unliked, and the other person was truly incompetent or lazy. She didn't have the time to baby and cajole a partner this week, so she immediately walked towards Theo Kirke. He wasn't brilliant (neither was she, it was an impersonal observation) but he would do his work and wouldn't give her any trouble. If she were honest she even enjoyed his company most of the time.

He was genuinely kind, and he showed it. That was more than could be said for most people. She got the impression that people tried to manipulate him alot, and though Corrine wasn't always the warmest personality she had honestly never used Theo without doing him a favor in return whether he asked for it or not. It was the best you could really ask of a Slytherin. He had been a good person to spend casual moments with over the years. And he had nice hair. She could at least save him the drudgery of doing an entire project by himself

Cora's robes billowed a bit as she clicked in her oxfords over to Kirke. Placing herself in front of him with a light tap on his shoulder, she gave an obligatory smile and sweetened her voice a bit.

Despair spread through Theo as soon as the words 'group project' were uttered from Professor Merrythought's lips. He knew how these sorts of things worked, and by the time his eyes raised, nearly half the class had paired up silently. Theo didn't expect to meet anyone's gaze and instantly become partners, so he kept his head low, waiting until the official order to pair off.

Theo hated group projects more than anything. It wasn't that he was an unsocial person, but he believed that school work was not a social occasion. When he did school work, he wanted efficiency. That didn't mean he wouldn't speak to the person he worked with, but he'd been taken advantage of during projects more than once before. He didn't like doing all the work while his partner dozed off, or busied themselves with something else. But that often ended up being the case. And he certainly wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, so it usually resulted in poor grades on both of their parts.

He stood awkwardly as the rest of the class began to join their partners, leaning against his desk and sliding his foot side to side. He figured that eventually someone would end up without a partner and they would pair up together. However, he didn't seem to have to wait too long. With a tap on his shoulder and a smile, Corrine Haven clearly planned to work with him. He didn't mind Corrine, which had always surprised him seeing as he had a bad track record with Slytherins.

Theo smiled back politely, nodding. "Sure thing." he said, pulling out a chair for her to sit at before taking a seat himself.

Corrine blinked in surprise for a moment. Despite being intellectually aware of Theo's unfailing goodness, she still wasn't used to chairs being held out for her. If Theo had a bad track record with Slytherins, he certainly had no idea what Corrine put up with on a daily basis. Still, Corrine hesitated for a split second before taking the seat. If people offered her niceties willingly in Slytherin house it was generally because there was a sinister purpose behind it. Chairs had often been spelled to do rather silly things to her. It was why Corrine avoided patterns so much. Corrine took an uncomfortable breath as she finally sat. Nothing to worry about with Kirke. That was the whole reason she had partnered with him anyway, wasn't it?

"So. A two wizard protection spell and the essay of course. The wandwork looks complicated and we haven't practiced almost any of the spells. The book says it requires perfect coordination, so we'll have to practice before we actually cast it. When are you free to meet?"

And this was Corrine, as she preferred to be. Direct, to the point. She didn't like fussing with the extras people threw into conversations. She would be indirect and imprecise and try to make Theo feel appropriately pandered to if she had to, but her pithy words weren't meant unkindly and she saw no reason to temper them. Other people became silly and petty and violent when their needs weren't catered to, and Theo (precious specimen that he was) simply seemed to become a bit shocked when Corrine displayed her straightforward tendencies. Still, Corrine supposed there wasn't any harm in being pleasant as well as direct. For once it wouldn't be difficult. She supposed this was how most of the students at Hogwarts felt about each other. As if kindness and consideration would be easy, rather than a meticulously planned farse.

"I hope you don't mind my choosing you for a partner. I just know you aren't lazy or unkind like some of the others."

There. She hadn't even had to think about what she liked about Theo Kirke. As Corrine reflected on her words though, she flinched a little bit. Lazy was always expected in a classroom, but unkind... That revealed a bit much of her opinion of the students around them. It's not as if it was a great and secret slip of the tongue, but Corrine was still bothered at her choice of words. This was why she didn't get too comfortable around people. She would tell them what she really thought, and if Corrine did that all sorts of walls could be built around her actions and words. As someone who consistently relied on narrow escapes, this was unacceptable. She'd just have to be a bit more circumspect she supposed.

Theo was somewhat puzzled by her reluctance to sit immediately, but held the seat out for her until she sat. He had been taught to be a gentleman in many senses, and to have someone so shocked by something as simply polite as holding out a chair for a lady, he was somewhat confused. His nerves were eased when she finally sat, and he settled in himself, pulling a piece of parchment and his quill towards him.

He had opened his mouth to exchange pleasantries with Haven, but was interrupted as she started straight on the matter. He closed it slowly, nodding only in agreement as she began explaining the point and process they would have to go through in order to succeed in this assignment. Theo was always thrown off by Corrine's abruptness and directness, though they had spoken and worked together on several occasions over the years. Compared to many of the ladies he knew, she was blunt and a bit rough in her manner, and not what he expected. Part of him rather put off by it, but she was fairly skilled and he knew that she would do her share of the work.

He paused for a moment, letting her finish her question, before replying, "I'm available tomorrow evening. Following dinner, perhaps? If that is acceptable to you, of course." Theo paused, wanting to make sure that the time would be agreed upon. He did not want to force Corrine into a time that did not work for her. He was preferred to be flexible rather than seek confrontation, or even deal with such confrontation.

Theo was surprised by her following statement and he smiled gently, nodding in agreement. "I'm honored." he said with a quiet laugh. "In all honesty, I'm grateful to have someone who will do their own work as well." Theo did not enjoy working with lazy partners. Not that he would ever say anything to them, but he did not like doing the work of two people. He knew that Corrine would at least carry her own weight.